Sustainable AND beautiful design? No way!
The goal is to go beyond LEED, but also to educate the industry to what matters. As opposed to the national AIA COTE Award, this one rewards local buildings which took into account regional constraints and local communities.
The jury considered the following criteria, each based on specific metrics: 1. Engagement Process + Integrative Design 2. Regional Resilience + Community Design 3. Local and Regional Site Response 4. Passive Before Active 5. Comfort + Delight 6. Water Conservation Beyond Low Flow 7. Energy Flow 8. Materials + Construction 9. Long Life Loose Fit 10. Collective Wisdom Feedback Loops
I attended the awards at AIA NY Chapter this week. Please aplaude the winners:
Bushwick Inlet Park, Brooklyn, by Kiss + Cathcart

Whole foods, Brooklyn, by BL companies
This project is composed by the Whole Foods commercial building but also offers a promenade along the canal, and a Biergarten to enjoy the views over the city skyline. The greenhouses on the roof are run by Gotham Greens and provide fresh vegetables to the store. A very local farming service! The solar panels of the parking lot provide electricity - obviously - but also shelters to customers and a significant reduction of ground exposure to solar heating. The material of the ground is permeable to enable some storm water absorption. In other features, count also carbon dioxide refrigerators and the use of reclaimed bricks and wood.
Kohler Environment Center, Wallingford (Connecticut), by Robert AM Stern Architects


To close the panel, a few questions were asked to the panelists:
An attendee remarks that "proof+beauty" looks like "metrics versus art". The architect Kiss answers to this that when every technical part is integrated, the architectural is supported. Here lay two sides of design, which is a whole process in the end. About the Net 0 goal, the architect from RAMSA assures that it has to be a priority in itself to work out. If not treated as such, it can become a downside to the project.
To conclude, let me quote the famous architect R. Buckminster Fuller: "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it's wrong."